Dublin, Monday, 14th May 2012: The Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Student Health Centre was amongst the winners at today’s Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards for their project, ‘No Umbrella Campaign.’ At a ceremony in Dublin, the DIT Student Health Centre team was awarded for their project, which they developed after noticing that many young men were not attending testing for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as they feared a painful and invasive test called an ‘Umbrella Test.’ DIT won first place in the category, ‘Best Project in General Practice’ for  developing a simple but effective campaign to reassure the students that this test was no longer necessary and that STI testing is simple and easier than ever before. They did this by using a colourful, humorous and clearly designed poster that dispels the ‘umbrella’ myth and removes any fear associated with testing.  Four other organisations were also recognised for their efforts to communicate health information more clearly to the public. These organisations are the National Cancer Control Programme, Arthritis Ireland, the National Cancer Screening Service and RTE Radio 1.

“The DIT Student Health Centre’s project showed a clear understanding of the false impressions that young men have about STI screening. They used humour and clear visuals to communicate their message in this innovative and easy-to-replicate campaign,” said Dr Gerardine Doyle, UCD School of Business and chairperson of the Crystal Clear Awards judging panel. “As a result of the ‘No Umbrella Campaign,’ there was an increase of 73% in the number of students attending the centre’s STI clinic from the target audience.”

Speaking about her team’s win, Louise O’Donnell, Practice Nurse, DIT Student Health Centre, said, “We are delighted to have won a Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy award. It is an honour to be recognised for our work. When we saw that uptake amongst our target group was low, we knew that we had to communicate in a way that would resonate with them. This has proven to be highly effective as it has not only promoted sexual health amongst our total student population, but it has also resulted in an improvement in their overall health and well-being.’’ 

The five winning initiatives were selected from nearly 150 entries which had to demonstrate how they addressed the issue of health literacy. Health literacy is a person’s ability to understand and use basic health information, whether they receive it in writing, in person or over the phone.  Health literacy also involves a person having the knowledge to understand their options and make informed decisions about their own health.

Speaking at the awards ceremony, Ms Ciara O’Rourke, judge and External Affairs Director, MSD, said, “Four out of ten people in Ireland have trouble with health literacy and can have difficulty understanding health information.¹ That is why it is so heartening to see so many initiatives that are helping patients to have a better understanding of their health. All the winners and finalists that have been recognised today have empowered patients to take a more active role in the management of their own lifestyle, condition or illness and so make more informed decisions about their own health.”

Commenting on the awards, Inez Bailey, Director of the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA), said, “The initiatives that have been recognised here today show what can be accomplished when clear communication is used in healthcare. Many of the projects could be easily replicated by GP clinics, hospitals and patient groups around the country. NALA offers free advice on how the healthcare community can better communicate with patients so please contact us if you would like help at www.nala.ie.”

 The other Crystal Clear award winners were: 

National Cancer Screening Programme for their Rapid Access Lung Clinic Booklet which provides information to patients about what to expect before they attend their clinic. The typical lung cancer patient is often from lower socio-economic groups and may have literacy difficulties. To cater for this, the booklet was written in plain English and includes pictures and diagrams to make it easier to understand. It is used in the eight designated cancer centres around the country.�

Arthritis Ireland for ‘My Health Organiser,’ which gives arthritis patients somewhere to store all their health records  including diagnoses, medications and treatments, literally putting the knowledge and information in their hands. The organiser encourages people with arthritis to take control and play an active part in their treatment.
 

National Cancer Screening Service for their bespoke cancer screening training for community health workers in the Traveller Community. The NCSS developed a bespoke, interactive training programme for Traveller community health workers which support women with low literacy levels to understand complex messages about cancer and screening. The programme incorporates pictorial-led materials that support women with low literacy levels to understand often complex messages about the topic.
 

Conor McGinnity, Nicoline Greer and Liam O’Brien, RTE Radio 1, for their documentary ‘My Dad’s Depression.’ The documentary told Conor McGinnity’s personal story on how his father’s depression has affected the whole family. The aim of the documentary was to give an insight into families who live with depression, but are not sufferers themselves. To that end they did not include any ‘expert’ opinion – rather they heard directly from the family at the centre of this issue.
The judging panel for the awards is represented by individuals from NALA, MSD, the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), the Irish Practice Nurses Association (IPNA), UCD, a General Practice, PracticeManager.ie, Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork. 

The Crystal Clear Awards are sponsored by MSD and supported by the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA).Further information on health literacy and the Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards can be found at www.healthliteracy.ie.

ENDS

For media inquiries, interviews or images, please contact:

Caitriona Hennessy, office: 01 661 8915, mobile: 087 933 5686, caitriona@corporatereputations.ie

Ann O’Leary, office: 01 661 8915, mobile: 087 900 2679, ann@corporatereputations.ie

Notes to Editor

 References

1. EU Health Literacy Survey – Irish Results Notable Findings Report 2011

Definition of health literacy

Health literacy involves a person being able to understand basic health information whether they receive it in writing, in person or over the phone. It also involves a person having the knowledge to understand their options and make informed decisions about their own health.

People working in the healthcare sector play an important part in improving health literacy by communicating more clearly and making information and services more accessible to patients.

�
Definition of health literacy

Health literacy involves a person being able to understand basic health information whether they receive it in writing, in person or over the phone. It also involves a person having the knowledge to understand their options and make informed decisions about their own health.

People working in the healthcare sector play an important part in improving health literacy by communicating more clearly and making information and services more accessible to patients.

MSD in Ireland

MSD is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. MSD is known as Merck in the United States and Canada and MSD elsewhere.  MSD employs 2,300 people directly in Ireland and provides an additional 9,000 indirect jobs through its operations at sites throughout Ireland.  In the last five decades the company has invested over €2.2bn in Ireland.  MSD is one of Ireland’s leading exporters and contributes significantly towards making the pharmaceutical industry the country’s leading export sector.  MSD is a member of Guaranteed Irish and manufacturers or packages many of its leading products for the world market in Ireland.

Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer care and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information, visit www.msd.ie. 

National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA)

The National Adult Literacy Agency is an independent membership organisation, concerned with developing policy, advocacy, research and offering advisory services in adult literacy work in Ireland. NALA was established in 1980 and has campaigned since then for the recognition of, and responses to, the adult literacy issue in Ireland. According to the last international survey, one in four Irish adults has difficulties reading and writing. For example, they may not be able to understand health information or fill out forms. 

With this in mind, a lot of NALA’s work involves developing policies and practices that reduce literacy-related barriers to accessing information – specifically in public services and the health sector. This has involved working with a number of government departments in training staff in literacy awareness and producing publications in plain English. As its focus is on everyday language, plain English is a style of presenting information that helps someone understand it the first time they read or hear it.

Dublin, 13th April 2012- The Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards 2012 have announced the fifteen shortlisted candidates that have been recognised for their outstanding efforts to communicate with people in a crystal clear way.

As a result of being shortlisted, the shortlisted entries will be invited to attend the Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards Ceremony in Dublin on Monday, 14th May 2012.
This year, there were a record number of entries into the Health Literacy Awards. Almost 150 entries were received from GPs, nurses, practice managers, physiotherapists, and hospital catering managers from across the country. The continued increase to the number of entries highlights the strong level of interest in health literacy in the healthcare environment in Ireland. Health literacy involves a person being able to understand basic health information whether they receive it in writing, in person or over the phone. It also involves a person having the knowledge to understand their options and make informed decisions about their own health.

Ms Ciara O’Rourke, External Affairs Director, MSD, and judge of the awards commented, “The shortlisted projects highlight the great work that is being done all over Ireland to help people better understand their own health. The recent EU Health Literacy survey proves that the more people understand their health, the better their health will be.¹ We are delighted to see the continued commitment in the healthcare sector to health literacy and would like to extend our congratulations to all those shortlisted.”

Health literacy is an important issue in Ireland today. Recent EU research shows that four out of 10 people in Ireland have low health literacy and that vulnerable groups such as those experiencing long-term illness, financial hardship and those from lower socio-economic groups were seen to have the lowest levels of health literacy.¹ Low levels of health literacy can mean people have poorer health, are less able to look after themselves and are less able to get the most out of the healthcare system. ¹

Also speaking at the announcement of the shortlist was Inez Bailey, Director of the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA), who said, “The record number of entries into the Awards this year shows that healthcare professionals are making great efforts to communicate in a clear, easy-to-understand way, using innovative approaches and rephrasing any specialised terms in plain language. We would like to offer our congratulations to the shortlisted projects and have no doubt that they will inspire others working in this area.”

The Awards are a partnership between MSD and NALA with representation on the judging panel from the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), UCD, a General Practitioner, NALA, and Trinity College, Dublin.

For further information on the Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards, log onto www.healthliteracy.ie.

Shortlist 2012

Best Project in General Practice
• Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) Student Health Centre. ‘The No Umbrella Campaign’
• Mercer’s Medical Centre. ‘Travel Safely Information Booklet’
• Slievemore Clinic (Dublin Women’s Clinic). ‘Setting up of Free Information Evenings’

Best Project in a Hospital
• Ms Norma Deasy, HSE South and South Infirmary Victoria University Hospital, Cork ‘Newborn Hearing Screening Programme’
• National Cancer Control Programme and National NCCP Lung Cancer Teams. ‘NCCP Rapid Access Lung Clinic Patient Booklets’
• Ms Una O’Brien, Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda. ‘Teen Mom 2 B ‘Teen Breast Feeding’

Best Project in the Community or in a Social Setting
• Arthritis Ireland, ‘My Health Organiser’
• Diabetes Ireland, Managing Chronic Health Conditions at School, a Resource Pack for Teachers and Parents
• National Cancer Screening Service (NCSS), Northside Community Health Initiative (NICHE) ‘The Bra Project’ – An arts for health project for the promotion of breast awareness and screening.

Best Health Promotion Project
• Ms Maeve Cusack, National Cancer Screening Service (NCSS). ‘Bespoke cancer screening training for community health workers in the Traveller Community’
• Mr Martin Grogan, HSE South Health Promotion Department. ‘Busy Bodies Adolescen
• Dr Fenton Howell, Health Service Executive, Tobacco Social Marketing Working Group, ‘QUIT Campaign’

Best Health Communication Through Journalism
• Ms Deirdre Reynolds, Irish Independent, ‘At 33, I thought I was too young to get breast cancer – but I was wrong’
• Mr Conor McGinnity, Ms Nicoline Greer and Mr Liam O’Brien, RTE Radio 1, ‘My Dad’s Depression’
• Ms Catherine Shanahan, Irish Examiner Publications, ‘Prader willi syndrome piece’

ENDS

References:
1. EU Health Literacy Survey – Irish Results Notable Findings Report 2011

MSD in Ireland
MSD is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. MSD is known as Merck in the United States and Canada and MSD elsewhere. MSD employs 2,300 people directly in Ireland and provides an additional 9,000 indirect jobs through its operations at sites throughout Ireland. In the last five decades the company has invested over €2.2bn in Ireland. MSD is one of Ireland’s leading exporters and contributes significantly towards making the pharmaceutical industry the country’s leading export sector. MSD is a member of Guaranteed Irish and manufacturers or packages many of its leading products for the world market in Ireland.

Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer care and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information, visit www.msd.ie.
National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA)
The National Adult Literacy Agency is an independent membership organisation, concerned with developing policy, advocacy, research and offering advisory services in adult literacy work in Ireland. NALA was established in 1980 and has campaigned since then for the recognition of, and responses to, the adult literacy issue in Ireland. According to the last international survey, one in four Irish adults has difficulties reading and writing. For example, they may not be able to understand health information or fill out forms.
With this in mind, a lot of NALA’s work involves developing policies and practices that reduce literacy-related barriers to accessing information – specifically in public services and the health sector. This has involved working with a number of government departments in training staff in literacy awareness and producing publications in plain English. As its focus is on everyday language, plain English is a style of presenting information that helps someone understand it the first time they read or hear it.

Four out of 10 people (39%) in Ireland have inadequate or problematic health literacy according to the first ever European Health Literacy Survey. The survey was carried out by University College Dublin for Ireland and funded by the EU Commission and the Department of Health. 2 Vulnerable groups such as those experiencing long term illness, financial hardship and those from lower-socio-economic groups were seen to have the lowest levels of health literacy. 2 Low levels of health literacy results in poorer health, poor quality of self-care and self management of disease, ineffective use of the health service and a decreased ability to advocate for oneself in the healthcare arena. 2
Health literacy involves a person having the skills to understand basic health information whether they receive it in writing, in person or over the phone. It also involves a person having the knowledge to understand their treatment options and make informed decisions about their own health.
The survey marks the first time that health literacy levels have ever been measured in Ireland. Ireland is not alone in its health literacy problem – nearly every second person (46%) across the participating eight European countries was shown to have low or problematic health literacy. 3
The announcement of the survey results was made at the launch of the fifth annual Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards, which are designed to recognise and reward excellence in health literacy in the healthcare sector. For more information on the awards and the health literacy survey, visit www.healthliteracy.ie.
Commenting on the results, Dr Gerardine Doyle, Principal Investigator for Ireland, stated: “One of the key findings of the study is that there is a strong relationship between health literacy and education, those with lower education have a lower level of health literacy. 2 This has important implications for the development and integration of health matters in the school curricula from the earliest stages of education. ”

“These results are welcome in that we can now quantify the problem with regard to health literacy, the impact it is having on the health of our population and the need for further education in this area. The results show that over 17% of people have difficulty understanding leaflets that accompany medicines and almost 20% of people would find it difficult to understand what to do in a medical emergency – thus demonstrating that the levels of low health literacy are having a real impact on a day to day basis. 2 Medical care and interacting with the health service is become increasingly complex and this data will further draw the attention of policy makers to the issue of health literacy. I would encourage anyone who would like to improve their health literacy to make contact with their local VEC adult literacy service or NALA at 1800 20 20 65. ” Commented Inez Bailey, Director, National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA).
According to the EU Health Literacy Survey report, at an individual level, the report is advising that low health literacy be addressed by educating the Irish public and increasing their personal health literacy and also by making the tasks and situations involved in the health system less demanding. 2
Also speaking at the launch was Ciara O’Rourke, Director, External Affairs, MSD who added, “Clear communications is critical to help patients make informed decisions about their own health. From the nearly 450 entries we have received into the Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards since 2007, it is clear that great strides have already been made in this area. I encourage those working in the health sector to enter the 2012 awards and share their Best Practice with colleagues across Ireland”.
The Crystal Clear MSD Health Literacy Awards were developed to recognise and reward the excellent work already being done in the healthcare sector to address the issue of health literacy. The Awards are open to anyone who works in the healthcare sector who is improving health literacy by communicating more clearly and making information and services more accessible to patients. Since the Awards were launched in 2007, nearly 450 entries have been received from GPs, practice managers, consultants, nurses, receptionists, advocacy groups, and pharmacists across Ireland. The closing date for entries is Friday, 27th January 2012. Entries can be made online at www.healthliteracy.ie.

To register, please email healthliteracy@corporatereputations.ie.

Health Literacy Event
Royal College of Physicians, 6 Kildare Street, Dublin 2
Monday, 28 November 2011
Agenda

1.00 – Light lunch

1.30 – Introduction to health literacy in Ireland
Inez Bailey, Director, NALA

1.40 – Results of EU Health Literacy Survey
Dr Gerardine Doyle

2.00 – Why health literacy matters to me
Bridie Daly, former literacy student

2.10 – Benefits of clear communications for patient outcomes
Dr Austin O’Carroll, General Practitioner

2.20 – Temple Street ‐ leading the way in Health literacy
Grainne Dowdall, Temple Street Children’s Hospital

2.30 – MSD commitment to Health Literacy and launch of Crystal Clear Awards
Dr Neil Boyle, Managing Director, MSD

2.40 – Q&A – BREAK

3.00 – Health Literacy training workshops

5.00 – Ends

· The Irish Examiner’s ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’ campaign – The Irish Examiner sought to put a human face on the national crisis that suicide now represents in their ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’ campaign. The campaign booklet focused on interviews with people affected by suicide giving them an opportunity to tell their stories and share their pain, frustration and hope with input from key support groups and associations involved in suicide prevention and suicide advice, support and information.

· The HSE Dublin North East’s ‘Be Active After School Activity Programme’ – This initiative comprises a 30 week structured activity programme which introduces parents and children aged 7-8 years to a variety of activities to sustain positive physical activity habits as children grow up. There are currently 1,200 children participating in the programme with 300 parent leaders and 130 teacher leaders volunteering their time to facilitate the sessions.

· The HSE South Cardiac Rehabilitation Working Group’s ‘Take Heart’ programme – This programme comprises a booklet titled ‘Take Heart’ which is used by patients before, during and after they have a heart operation. The booklet helps patients understand their diagnosis and make appropriate choices regarding their lifestyle following heart surgery.

· The Health Centre, Athenry, Galway’s ear care and ear wax information programme – This programme comprises an information leaflet about ear care which is one of the reasons why people visit a GP or a practice nurse. Using Plain English, the leaflet provides information in an easy to understand and engaging way and following distribution of the leaflet, the practice carried out an audit which showed a reduction in the number of patients coming back for repeat ear related appointments.